Main menu

2010 Suzuki Kizashi SLS, a Long-Term Update

3 of 6AutoWeek's Suzuki getting fixed at AutoMetric in Royal Oak, Michigan

&nbsp

4 of 6Suzuki Kizashi, all fixed and clean

&nbsp

5 of 6Doesn't look like much...

&nbsp

6 of 6

&nbsp

During the second quarter of our long-term Suzuki Kizashi’s stay in the AutoWeek garage, it was sadly neglected in favor of a number of more exciting sports cars that came through our fleet or were assigned airport duty. But when it did move, drivers always got out surprised and overall pleased with the Suzuki sedan’s performance. One staff member spoke for the group, noting, “The Kizashi is a car that should not be disregarded in its class.”

So far in the third-quarter, we’ve taken our own advice and have piled plenty of miles on the deep-sea-blue metallic Suzuki. If our current pace keeps up, we’ll log close to 9,000 miles onto our Kizashi’s odometer in the third quarter alone.

Praise flows in our logbook for the car’s steady and solid road manners both on the expressway and around the city. The suspension damps out most road hazards with ease, and the hefty steering-wheel weight and quick response remain a hit with the majority of drivers. Fuel economy consistently hovers in the mid-20s, which is good considering the heavy-footed pilots around these parts.

For the winter, we dug into our storage room and unearthed a set of Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3s previously used on our long-term Audi S6 from a couple of years ago. Luck would have it that they matched up perfectly to our Kizashi’s stock 235/45 R-18 tire size. Even if we didn’t have the winter tires on hand, we still would have made the decision to purchase a dedicated set of winter tires to replace our Dunlop SP Sport 7000 A/S that came from the factory and are only rated to handle “light snow.”

Unfortunately, things haven’t gone all smoothly for the Kizashi. During the commute home one night on slick roads, one of our guys came to a dead stop in expressway traffic and peered into the rearview mirror to see the car behind approach at an alarming rate. Knowing that there was no chance of that car stopping, he pulled the Kizashi to the right as much as possible leaving the left shoulder to the driver behind for runoff room. He heard tire squeal and unfortunately still felt impact after his efforts, which damaged the left corner of the rear bumper.

For the repairs, we visited our friend Bob Emmett at Autometric body shop in Royal Oak, Mich. There, he was able to access the damage, order parts and sent us on our way with the car, which was still drivable, until the parts arrived. When they did, Autometric had us in and out in just three days. The paint was flawless and the car looked phenomenal after being detailed when we picked it up.

Have we had any complaints thus far into the third quarter? Yes, a couple with some grumbles about the CVT continuing the common theme that began during the first six months. The headliner rattle also popped back up in the logbook after the previous dealer visit failed to remedy the problem entirely, and it prompted a staffer to shove a piece of cardboard into the headliner, which stopped it.

In all, it’s been a crazy couple of months with our Kizashi. We’re just keeping our fingers crossed that our trusty Suzuki will continue to cover the miles now that the days of neglect are in the past and that we stay out of harm’s way for the rest of winter.